Filippa K turns to the colours and textures of '90s workspaces to inspire a collection that means business
For autumn/winter '24, Filippa K's creative director Liisa Kessler turned towards the office. Not office attire, mind you – though the collection’s immaculate tailoring would be right at home in a nine-to-five setting – but workspaces themselves. It all began with Office, a coffee table book of Swedish photographer Lars Tunbjörk’s images, captured in the '90s, of uninhabited offices in New York, Tokyo and Stockholm. “I love this book, it’s so beautiful,” says Kessler, noting that her partner (Filippa K's image director) had found it at a little bookshop near the Filippa K offices in Södermalm. “The combination of colours and textures – I thought it was so special.”
The tone-on-tone colour palettes – shades of dusty blue, caramel, cognac and burgundy – and the contrast in textures served as the building blocks for the collection. But the result is hardly stuffy corporate wear; these practicalities are met with the “energy and effortlessness” of the Filippa K woman (and man) – a vibe that Kessler has been carefully cultivating since she took the helm of the Swedish heritage brand two years ago. “We were really thinking about how the Filippa K woman and man fill this business environment with youthfulness,” says Kessler. “We wanted to work on something that felt super soft and sensual.”
Power blazers with exaggerated soft shoulders are met with delicate collared knits in lieu of crisp shirting. A pair of pinstripe pleated wool pants are cut wide – super wide – and paired with a tonal, relaxed button-down, a cozy grey sweater tied around the neck just so. “These images have been shot in the '90s, but you see a lot of '80s references because obviously a lot of these offices have been built during the '80s,” says Kessler. “So this aesthetic transition between the '80s and '90s really influenced the silhouettes, the clothing references and the details.” Elsewhere, belted coats and drop-waist knitted dresses propose a business-ready top-to-toe comfort (down to the fabric-covered buckle). Even the patent heels are cozy; they’re lined with faux fur.
True to Filippa K form, these are the sort of pieces that beg to be adapted to one’s wardrobe, whether you’re clocking in or not. Regardless, these looks mean business.
See the full collection below:
Filippa K - AW24
